The South Americans had sent Germany home in the previous round and set about making things difficult for Didier Deschamps and his side in the 39-degree heat.

Paraguay's resolute defending restricted France to long-range efforts and denied the free-flowing football seen from Les Bleus earlier in the tournament.

Deschamps attempted to switch things up when he introduced Desire Doue in place of Bradley Barcola after an hour, and it worked. Doue's neat footwork inside the box provoked a clumsy challenge from Diego Gomez, and after a VAR review, France were awarded a penalty with 70 minutes on the clock.

Paraguay's endeavours to distract Kylian Mbappe from taking his spot-kick were in vain. The striker coolly converted, putting him level with Lionel Messi in the race for the tournament's Golden Boot with seven goals so far.

With France ahead, their opponents had little in the way of a Plan B. There were some testy scenes at the final whistle but the 2022 finalists had got the job done.

The victory now puts Gusto and France into a mouth-watering quarter-final against Morocco in Boston on Thursday 9 July at 9pm UK time.